Dream Submission Guidelines

Frogboy

As the # of animated wallpapers submitted increases, we're having to establish some guidelines on what is and isn't going to be accepted:

Content MUST loop. An animated wallpaper should have a reasonably transitioning loop.

Do NOT submit content other people's work without their permission. We are allowing some leeway right now on this rule for content that is based on content distributed on the net until we determine the legality of this.

Content must be high-definition. That means the vertical resolution needs to be at least 720 pixels.

Additional rules on fair use of video clips:

Fair Use allows for the limited reuse of copyrighted material so long
as it is not done for financial gain of the person reusing the work,
nor does it financially harm the original author by denying them sales
etc. In the case of Dream animated wallpapers, users can make limited
reuse of video files created by other authors provided they meet the
following requirements:

The animations used in the .Dream file is either 15 seconds in
length of shorter OR less than 25% of the original video file in length
(whichever is shorter). So if you found a 20 second video you want to
use in a Dream, you can use no more than 5 seconds of that video.
Anything else, you are limited to 15 seconds.

You provide credit to the original author in the skin comments AND provide a link to your original source.

Understand that if the original owner of the work asks us to take
it down, provided proof of ownership, we will comply immediately.

Failure to comply with these fair use rules will result in an item being rejected from the submission queue.

If you find your work is being redistributed here against your wishes,
please contact a site admin with some form of proof that you own the
original work, and we will remove the offending entry immediately.

Another great move by Stardocks! Thank you for implementing some regulations... at first it was not a big deal (and honestly we all wanted to get our greedy little hands on *whatever* we can find) but now and in the future it would be ideal to host only .Dream files that are of decent quality. Keep up the good work and tell Microsoft to release their final product already!!

As the # of animated wallpapers submitted increases, we're having to establish some guidelines on what is and isn't going to be accepted:

Content MUST loop. An animated wallpaper should have a reasonably transitioning loop.

Do NOT submit content other people's work without their permission. We are allowing some leeway right now on this rule for content that is based on content distributed on the net until we determine the legality of this.

Content must be high-definition. That means the vertical resolution needs to be at least 720 pixels.

My friend I think you missed the second part of that quote. "Content must loop. An animated wallpaper should have a reasonably transitioning loop"

The way I read it, Dreams that loop horribly from the last frame to the first will not be allowed.

Technically, ANY video used as a background WILL loop... after all, the video ends at the last frame and begins again at frame 1. If this is not considered a loop by all means correct me (and I'm not being sarcastic, please do).

All that being said, the first regulation stated above simply implies that if a .Dream wallpaper does not transition from the last frame of the video to the first frame adequately, then it will not be accepted.

Fair Use allows for the limited reuse of copyrighted material so long as it is not done for financial gain of the person reusing the work, nor does it financially harm the original author by denying them sales etc. In the case of Dream animated wallpapers, users can make limited use of video files created by other authors provided they meet the following requirements:

The animations used in the .Dream file is either 15 seconds in length of shorter OR less than 25% of the original video file in length (whichever is shorter). So if you found a 20 second video you want to use in a Dream, you can use no more than 5 seconds of that video. Anything else, you are limited to 15 seconds.

You provide credit to the original author in the skin comments AND provide a link to your original source.

Understand that if the original owner of the work asks us to take it down, provided proof of ownership, we will comply immediately.

Failure to comply with these fair use rules will result in an item being rejected from the submission queue.

If you find your work is being redistributed here against your wishes, please contact a site admin with some form of proof that you own the original work, and we will remove the offending entry immediately.

I am attempting to upload a dream created from part of a video from the NASA website (free video download section). I'm presuming as long as NASA is given credit (and we do pay NASA's salaries - that it would be OK, at least to try)?

The "attempting" part was that the dream seems to fully upload, but the next page "fails to display". I have no idea if it made it to Stardock or not...

Thanks for your great products and continuing to make working on a computer all day a bit more bearable... Greg

louise...here's a good threadto help you get started. There's one link that covers looping that's pretty good. There's also a way to loop video with Windows movie maker that's pretty easy to do. I'll try to put together a quick tutorial and post it for you.

Also, if you need some assistance or a question answered, PM (private message) me and i'll try to help. Just click on my name and choose private message.

i have 2 .dreams in the gallery but i get no feedback when the others rejected. have been careful to make sure the images loop smoothly as i can - having said that i am still enjoying making them and can use them on my desktop

Could you please include guidelines for submitting .swf preview? I tried several times each time making it smaller until it was 256x126. Still would not save, reverting to the same screen, each time I pushed Submit. I could see the progress bar and all. Can someone explain the proper way or size please?

How strict are we on this? I've been wanting to upload a little dream I made, but the problem is that the source footage was found on what to appears to be an abandoned youtube account (only one video ever uploaded, and the owner hasn't logged in for over a year). I've emailed the owner, but I'm not optimistic about ever receiving a reply.

The thing is, though, that the footage involved was just the owner testing his/her new HD camera and uploading the unedited results... Given this situation, would there be any point in trying to submit the dream? The loop is approx. 40 seconds long. (It's not that it's incredibly fantastic or anything, but it's what I wanted and it does the job for me. Since there aren't many like it, I thought maybe it would be worth sharing despite some imperfections.)

The animations used in the .Dream file is either 15 seconds inlength of shorter OR less than 25% of the original video file in length(whichever is shorter). So if you found a 20 second video you want touse in a Dream, you can use no more than 5 seconds of that video. Anything else, you are limited to 15 seconds.

to deviate somewhat......I'm still wondering what happened that we lost Ausvet.... having followed the thread with the gents carrying on about their copyright..and the interpretation of the conditions of use... was that ever clarified?........did all of his have to go... did we have to lose all his work and a prominent long term friendly, active member?.......

it's frustrating when there is no closure on these things....he's missed.....

The animations used in the .Dream file is either 15 seconds inlength of shorter OR less than 25% of the original video file in length(whichever is shorter). So if you found a 20 second video you want touse in a Dream, you can use no more than 5 seconds of that video. Anything else, you are limited to 15 seconds.

Oh well. For future reference, though: would it be acceptable to submit a link to original footage along with a link to a script that would turn said footage into a dream? Seems faster than having to wait 95 years for the anonymous copyright to expire...

"Oh well. For future reference, though: would it be acceptable to submit a link to original footage along with a link to a script that would turn said footage into a dream? Seems faster than having to wait 95 years for the anonymous copyright to expire..."

Stardock's and thus Wincustomize.com's stance on 'fair use' as it will pertain to the submissions [and acceptance] of Dreams is quite specific and is as per your quote [of me] in #20.

If you comply with that condition there will be no issue of 95 years/whatever.

If you do not comply with that condition you are required to seek/obtain copyright consent or have your submission rejected.

As this site is derived mostly of artists we must maintain the integrity to protect all artists copyrights, not just the ones on the site, but across the board.

Anything less would be hypocritical.

Certainly. But the idea here was that 1) the copyright owner is likely impossible to get hold of, 2) the copyright owner is extremely unlikely to suffer any sort of harm (be that financially, artistically or otherwise) from the republication (it's just a stationary camera filming through the windscreen while the camera owner drives to work on a completely normal day, it's unedited and has been viewed a total of 260 times in the 18 months it's been available on youtube), and 3) the quote "We are allowing some leeway right now on this rule for content that is based on content distributed on the net until we determine the legality of this". As there seems to be no leeway at all here, maybe you should just remove that part as I really regret that I enquired about it now.

I fully understand the frustration of having a cool idea and not being able to implement it due to lack of ability to find original author, I had to wait 4 years to find the author to one of my DX theme port's I had all but given up hope.

The leeway was allowing even small portions of another author's originating works to be used under "fair use" for dreams, as with all other skins, no portion of another's works may be used/reproduced, redistributed without express permission from the original author.

How strict are we on this? I've been wanting to upload a little dream I made, but the problem is that the source footage was found on what to appears to be an abandoned youtube account (only one video ever uploaded, and the owner hasn't logged in for over a year). I've emailed the owner, but I'm not optimistic about ever receiving a reply.

The thing is, though, that the footage involved was just the owner testing his/her new HD camera and uploading the unedited results... Given this situation, would there be any point in trying to submit the dream? The loop is approx. 40 seconds long. (It's not that it's incredibly fantastic or anything, but it's what I wanted and it does the job for me. Since there aren't many like it, I thought maybe it would be worth sharing despite some imperfections.)

you may try looping it at another point or simply use a suitable transition such as crossfade, to make your dream just use 15 sec. or less

CursorFX is a utility which allows you to have much more flexibility in the cursors
you use to interact with Windows. CursorFX users can create and use cursors that
look and feel far superior to anything you've ever seen before! Best of all, it's
really easy to create your own super-charged cursors!

DesktopX is a program that lets users build their own desktops. It does this by
giving users access to desktop objects. These objects can come in all sizes and
shapes. They can have scripts attached to them, they can be combined together to
form mini applications or turned into an entire desktop.

Publisher:

Stardock Corporation

Developer:

Stardock Corporation

Stardock DeskScapes is a program that allows users to have animated wallpaper on
their Windows 8, Windows 7, XP or Vista desktop. It supports playing video as animated wallpaper,
dynamically generated content as animated wallpaper, and more.

IconPackager is a program that allows users to change nearly all of their Windows
icons at once by applying "packages" of icons. A package of icons contains
icons to replace most of the common icons on your Windows PC.

Icons

Icons for applications and folders.

LogonStudio is a free program that allows users to change their Windows 7, Vista
and XP logon screens. It comes with several logon screens to choose from, along
with thousands that are available online.

ObjectDock™ is a program that enables users to organize their shortcuts, programs
and running tasks into an attractive and fun animated Dock. By allowing users to
have more control over how they organize their desktop, users can take control of
their desktop icons and shortcuts to have them be available when where and how they
need them.

ObjectDock™ is a program that enables users to organize their shortcuts, programs
and running tasks into an attractive and fun animated Dock. By allowing users to
have more control over how they organize their desktop, users can take control of
their desktop icons and shortcuts to have them be available when where and how they
need them.

Show off your favorite desktop configuration by uploading a screenshot of your desktop!

SoundPackager brings customization of your auditory experience to Object Desktop!
Users can now choose from "sound packages" to enhance their Windows desktop
experience. Over 30 different system sounds are supported; unique new Stardock Design
sound packages are included with the package.

Microsoft Windows® 8 is shipped without the "Start" menu. Stardock heard the cries from Windows 8
users. We put the "Start" menu back in Windows 8. We accurately recreated the most used desktop
feature billions of users depend on every day and packed it with additional functionality.

Microsoft Windows® 8 is shipped without the "Start" menu. Stardock heard the cries from Windows 8
users. We put the "Start" menu back in Windows 8. We accurately recreated the most used desktop
feature billions of users depend on every day and packed it with additional functionality.

Theme Manager is a program that changes the look and feel of the entire Windows
environment. It works by talking to existing desktop enhancement programs and then
applying a MyColors or Suite file. In short, Theme Manager is a front-end to other
desktop enhancement programs to simplify the user experience.

WindowBlinds changes the look and feel of your Windows desktop by applying visual
styles to your entire Windows environment. When a visual style is applied, they
change nearly every elements of the Windows GUI such as title bars, push buttons,
the Start bar, menu and more.

View Gallery List

View a list of all of the different galleries available in WinCustomize, which you
can then browse individually.

Explore All

Explore all available galleries on WinCustomize.

Customize This Menu

This option is only available for subscribers of WinCustomize. If you are a subscriber
it will allow you to select which categories you would like to see in this menu
from a list of all galleries available on the site. This information will be stored
on your account for all your future visits.